Trio of USC LBs to take field as Texans battle Bengals

Cushing to face off against USC chumsTrio of Trojans LBs to take field as Texans battle 4-1 Bengals

By John McClain |
October 15, 2009

Brian Cushing (56) starts at outside linebacker for the Texans and leads them with 38 tackles.

Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga met at a high school all-star game in San Antonio. They had committed to USC.

When they arrived on the Trojans' campus, Cushing and Maualuga met Keith Rivers, a sophomore linebacker.

Over the next three years, they became best friends and starters who gave USC perhaps the best group of linebackers in college football history.

Rather than leave as an underclassman, Rivers returned for his senior year in 2007. Cushing and Maualuga announced in November they would follow Rivers' lead and return for their senior years because they wanted to leave a legacy at a program steeped in tradition.

On Sunday, Cushing, Rivers and Maualuga will be at Paul Brown Stadium, and it's going to be two against one.

Cushing starts at outside linebacker for the Texans and leads them with 38 tackles.

Rivers and Maualuga start at outside linebacker for the Bengals. Rivers leads the team with 39 tackles. Maualuga has 27.

Rivers, 6-2, 240 pounds, was the ninth pick in the first round of the 2008 draft.

Maualuga, 6-2, 255, was drafted in the second round in April, 38th overall.

“They're great guys, and we're best friends, and it's going to be fun playing against them,” Cushing said. “It's special. This is what our main goal has been all along.

“We wanted the best for each other, and we always wanted to play pro. We're going to be on the same field, and we'll enjoy it for a second. On the other side, we've got a game to win.”

After Rivers left USC a year ahead of them, Cushing and Maualuga were joined by Clay Matthews III. Matthews was drafted in the first round by Green Bay.

Move over, Penn State

“We like to think of ourselves as the new Linebacker U,” Cushing said. “That's what we always used to say. That's (Linebacker U) what we used to break down the huddle call with every day.

“I think it was a pride thing. I think it drove us that much more.”

After Cushing was drafted by the Texans, he received some advice from Rivers, who spent most of his rookie season on injured reserve after getting his jaw broken by Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward.

“He gave me advice on what to expect from the NFL, how he did and (what) his first year was like,” Cushing said. “It really was unfortunate for him to be hurt like that and miss that much time.”

Cushing and Rivers were shocked when Maualuga wasn't drafted in the first round. The Bengals turned down offers of 2010 first-round picks to draft Maualuga in the second round.

“Rey doesn't need anymore motivation considering the way he plays,” Cushing said about Maualuga's intensity. “He's a downhill type of guy in the sense that the longer he plays, the more of a force he'll be.

“Keith has always been athletic, a rangy kind of guy. Both of them are going to be great pros. I think them playing together again will help them even more.”

Pushing each other

Cushing doesn't have a former USC teammate starting at linebacker with him. He's had to settle for a former Alabama linebacker, DeMeco Ryans.

“I think they just push each other,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “When you're DeMeco out here and you're, of course, our captain and been a leader around here since (2006), and all of a sudden a young kid steps in and makes plays week in and week out, to me it only makes DeMeco better.

“The first few weeks, he (Cushing) made plays, but he still made mistakes. The mistakes have started to go away. As long as we've got him in the right place, he's going to make plays.”